It was a moonless night in the Thanalan desert, yet the darkness only served to make the stars shine brighter. Smoke rose into the sky from the large tent as Erek lifted the flap and walked in. His expression was tense, but it was like that fairly often. Most would assume he was mad at something. In this case, they wouldn't be wrong.
"I was expecting you, Erek." The older woman said, motioning for him to take a seat by the fire at the center of the tent. The other elder's had gone to bed, which left the space quite empty.
"You never seemed fond of this particular tradition of ours, and you haven't been shy about expressing this discomfort. Is there something wrong with the woman we've chosen for you?" She asked as her eyes trailed the young miqo'te. He took a seat on his knees across from her, looking past the fire as his eyes met hers.
"I don't understand.." He said, seeking the right words to explain his frustration as his brows furrowed. "I know that there are traditions in place for a reason, and I stand to support them as the tribe is lead into the future, but how do you know this Lana is the right one? Should I not have the right to choose based on my own preferences?" His tone was low, and he jumped straight to the point knowing he couldn't dance around the subject. "How can I lead the tribe if I can't even make a decision on who my spouse will be?" He clenched his fists, pressing his knuckles into the ground in his frustration. He had someone in mind, he always had, but he couldn't reveal that. "What if this one doesn't capture my heart?" He questioned, staring more into the fire than the elder as his gaze shifted downward. "What then?" The elder could sense the doubts that Erek had, but she didn't seem swayed by his frustration.
"Erek..." She slowly got up from where she was sitting as she walked over to him. Her posture slightly hunched over as she leaned into her cane. Placing a withered hand on his shoulder, she sighed lightly before speaking.
"You're not the first to approach me about these doubts, but you must understand that we elders have a reason for the things that we do. It might not be apparently initially, but all things reveal themselves in time." She patted his shoulder lightly before she continued "Give this decision a full moon's cycle before you come to us again about it. Perhaps the two of you might get along better than you'd expect." She said, leaving Erek with those words before she left the tent. Erek got up, his body tense at the decision. He had made no headway, but he knew he wouldn't. He just had to give it a shot. As childhood memories flashed before his eyes, he swore to himself that he'd do what he could to find who it was he had spent his childhood with and make his way to her. "Just one month... I'll show the elders that I can make a decision for myself.." He said to himself before walking out the tent as well.
